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Does anybody know a way to make a scratch on the glass case panel less noticeable or remove it?

Jops said:
I scratched a tempered glass panel on my case and it annoys me a lot. Does anybody know a way to mask or remove a scratch from tempered glass? I don't think it can be polished because the glass panel has a metal mounting fram around it so the panel can't be polished evenly. Maybe it can be masked by gluing a transparent film over it? What do you all think about it?
Click to expand...

You can cover the scratch with an etched glass effect applique,.. perhaps make it less noticeable. Best option would be to buy a new panel, replace the scratched panel,...


1744298059469.png
 
Visible Noise said:
I learned something today.
Click to expand...
Yep, tempered glass will just shatter into a million shards if you try cutting or drilling it.

Braegnok said:
You can cover the scratch with an etched glass effect applique,.. perhaps make it less noticeable. Best option would be to buy a new panel, replace the scratched panel,...


View attachment 394431
Click to expand...
Thanks for the idea. I'll probably buy a replacement and make the scratched panel matte just for fun (or to use it when I decide to use RGB fans).
 
If it's enough to be qualified as noticeable, then it's likely too deep to address without shaving a large amount of material with polishing.

The windshield repair kit is an option you can try, though you likely won't need to use their applicator as it's not a crack/star. You will need to use the resin (clear liquid included) and the transparent film to fill in the crack.

You'll want to overfill the crack and then apply the film. This is UV curing resin,so you'll need to apply a UV light or leave it in the sun for the recommended curing time. You can then remove the transparent film and scrape the excess away with a razor blade.
 
Jops said:
I scratched a tempered glass panel on my case and it annoys me a lot. Does anybody know a way to mask or remove a scratch from tempered glass? I don't think it can be polished because the glass panel has a metal mounting fram around it so the panel can't be polished evenly. Maybe it can be masked by gluing a transparent film over it? What do you all think about it?
Click to expand...
Maybe cover it with window tint or vinyl wrap?
 
A Computer Guy said:
Maybe cover it with window tint or vinyl wrap?
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That's a good idea. Most likely I'll buy a replacement panel and make this scratchedmatte by covering it with matte film or sanding it.
 
Shrek said:
en.wikipedia.org

Tempered glass - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
"Any cutting or grinding must be done prior to tempering."
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You are not wrong...but you are missing a part of this.

Highly tempered glass will absolutely obliterate itself if worked on...but "tempered" doesn't always mean what you think it means. The fun example is a Prince Rupert's drop, where a rapidly cooled ball of glass can basically deflect a hammer blow, but a set of wire cutters that fractures the tail will cause a catastrophic destruction event. Check out youtube for some videos.

That said, if you've managed to do tempered glass, and put a significant enough enough cut into it that it's more than just a bit annoying, then it's likely not insanely tempered. Take a piece of annealed glass while hot and run it through a water curtain and it'll take force until the second it doesn't, but if we're looking at a force air convection cooling line, the "tempered" part of the tempered glass is sometimes a good deal more pliable than you might otherwise think.

The trick with windshields is tempering and layering, that introduces discontinuities and energy absorption. If it's a relatively cheap piece of tempered glass then you're probably looking at something which might take some force and might not disintegrate...but not to either of the highest ends of the tolerance.

-Edit-
I know this is a non-sequitor. That said, Soviet fun "rediscovered" by Owens Corning. They had unbreakable glass. The process to create is was replacement of atoms in the lattice of the glass, whose applied internal discontinuities acted similarly to the pre-stressed states of tempered glass. The catch is that because the stress was from the crystal lattice of the glass itself, it allowed for a glass to be dropped from 4 feet in the air, impact a ceramic tile, and simply bounce. Communist glass

They used to not care, because recasting glass was very cheap. Now it's Gorilla Glass because cell phones are stupid expensive.
-edit end-
 
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I have some Libbey tea mugs that had 'gorilla' versions, but the price was too high, so I just went with the standard offering. A few broke due to internal stresses, but the rest are holding up well.

Tea mug.jpg


It may be like the Optane drives; people were not willing to pay the extra.
 
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lilhasselhoffer said:
Hydroflouric acid?

The stuff that burns and etches glass?

I'm digging the fact that you've got a lot of trust that somebody will do this in a big open area...because if they don't they're going to die when the offgassing fumes etch their lungs. Top that off with the fact you could buy a decent new case for the hardware required to do this safely...and I just don't get it. $88 for a pint of HFl
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That's why stupid people shouldn't work with hazardous chemicals; especially if they're too lazy to read the relevant Material Safety Data Sheets. iirc, if you get an equivalent surface area of 5 cm diameter of hydrofluoric acid on your skin, its a death sentence. Hence the reason I added that it shouldn't be done without having experience working with hazardous chemicals.

A pint? I doubt he would need more than 50 mL of the stuff, a pair of neoprene rubber gloves, cheap fan, and an uncluttered outdoor area to work. The only reason to even use it is if the scratch is deep & for some odd reason he is set on keeping this particular pane of glass instead of replacing it.
 
www.laballey.com

Hydrofluoric Acid 49% Solution, Electronic/Cleanroom Grade

Meet the industry’s strictest standards with Lab Alley’s Hydrofluoric Acid 49% Solution, Electronic/Cleanroom Grade. Lab Alley offers a comprehensive selection of high purity chemicals in ACS Reagent, USP, HPLC,
www.laballey.com

"Important: This product will only be shipped to Schools, Universities, Laboratories, or Companies. If you are an individual ordering this product, it will not be shipped to you. It will be deleted from your order and the rest of the order will be shipped without your confirmation. A Statement of Use is required for purchase."
 
Find a replacement panel or put a sticker on it.
MentalAcetylide said:
That's why stupid people shouldn't work with hazardous chemicals; especially if they're too lazy to read the relevant Material Safety Data Sheets. iirc, if you get an equivalent surface area of 5 cm diameter of hydrofluoric acid on your skin, its a death sentence. Hence the reason I added that it shouldn't be done without having experience working with hazardous chemicals.

A pint? I doubt he would need more than 50 mL of the stuff, a pair of neoprene rubber gloves, cheap fan, and an uncluttered outdoor area to work. The only reason to even use it is if the scratch is deep & for some odd reason he is set on keeping this particular pane of glass instead of replacing it.
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Maybe some calcium gluconate too lol
For real though OP, don't even entertain the idea of HF. Things can go very wrong very easily, even with a small quantity.
 
sLowEnd said:
Find a replacement panel or put a sticker on it.

Maybe some calcium gluconate too lol
For real though OP, don't even entertain the idea of HF. Things can go very wrong very easily, even with a small quantity.
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As I've already said I won't do anything with HF just because it isn't needed here and it's a bit too dangerous to use. Also I'm not entirely sure what that other person thought you could do with HF and a scratched glass, and also I can't even purchase it where I live.
 
The glass panel is mounted inside the metal side panel, is that correct? Depending of the shape of the glass, you may be able to remove it, rotate it one way or another and then re-assemble the panel. This will relocate the scratch, possibly to a place where it will annoy you less.
 
Wirko said:
The glass panel is mounted inside the metal side panel, is that correct? Depending of the shape of the glass, you may be able to remove it, rotate it one way or another and then re-assemble the panel. This will relocate the scratch, possibly to a place where it will annoy you less.
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Nah, not exactly. The panel has a metal frame which is glued to the glass. You can see it yourself here: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/asus-tuf-gaming-gt502/
 
Shrek said:
www.laballey.com

Hydrofluoric Acid 49% Solution, Electronic/Cleanroom Grade

Meet the industry’s strictest standards with Lab Alley’s Hydrofluoric Acid 49% Solution, Electronic/Cleanroom Grade. Lab Alley offers a comprehensive selection of high purity chemicals in ACS Reagent, USP, HPLC,
www.laballey.com

"Important: This product will only be shipped to Schools, Universities, Laboratories, or Companies. If you are an individual ordering this product, it will not be shipped to you. It will be deleted from your order and the rest of the order will be shipped without your confirmation. A Statement of Use is required for purchase."
Click to expand...
Of course they're not going to sell it to individuals because that is a bulk supplier. Those are stock solutions that, for example, campus universities dilute down to a lower %. You can't order large quantities of toxic reagents, and imo, nobody has any business having even a tenth of a pint of 48% HF acid unless they're frequently using it for glasswork. I'm sure there's plenty of other places you can buy smaller quantities at a much lower concentration.
 
goog("what chemical can etch glass") =
1. HF
2. a slightly less dangerous compound of hexafluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6)
3. Martha Stewart's Glass Etching Cream

So there do exist chemicals that won't kill the operator. However, those may not be available where the OP lives, or may not etch the type of glass the side window is made of. And most certainly they are useless if the window is supposed to remain clear.
 
Will etching weaken the glass?
 
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